GREENSBORO - North Carolina women's basketball players Erlana Larkins, LaToya Pringle and Rashanda McCants were named to the 2008 ACC Tournament first team, with Larkins taking the tournament's most valuable player award.

With those three players scoring in double figures on Sunday, the top-seeded Tar Heels captured their fourth consecutive ACC championship with an 86-73 victory over third-seeded Duke at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Larkins, Pringle and McCants, who are the team's leading scorers, have shown all season how invaluable they are for the second-ranked Tar Heels.

In the ACC Tournament each scored in double figures in every game, with Larkins scoring 25 against Clemson on Friday and McCants scoring 23 against Virginia on Saturday.

But UNC's roster runs much deeper than three players, a fact the team emphatically proved over three days in this tournament and over the course of a season that has seen the Tar Heels rise to 30-2 overall and 14-0 in the ACC.

"The strength of our team is our depth and our balance," UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "They are so unselfish. They don't care who scores as long as we win. And that is what makes them a championship team."

Hatchell said many people believed her team would take a step down after losing seniors Ivory Latta and Camille Little, yet the role players have prevented that from happening.

Freshman Cetera DeGraffenreid, who earlier this season stepped into the starting role after senior Alex Miller injured her knee, scored 13 of her 17 points in the second half against Duke on Sunday.

Although she picked up three fouls early in the first half, she committed one turnover and shot 3-for-5 from 3-point range in 31 minutes.

"I think what is unique about her to me is how consistent she has been," Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie said Sunday. "For a first-year student-athlete, she really produces night in and night out."

Another UNC freshman, Italee Lucas, whose play has fluctuated from spectacular to erratic, scored seven points in 19 minutes, including a damaging 3-pointer with six minutes remaining to put the Tar Heels up 75-59.

Later, Lucas made a tremendous effort to save a ball headed out of bounds. She raced to the sideline, jumped in the air and hit the basketball with her fist like a volleyball, passing it ahead to Larkins. Her effort resulted in two points for Pringle.

UNC, playing without freshman Rebecca Gray, who suffered a concussion Friday, also received six crucial minutes from sophomore Trinity Bursey, who scored four points at the free-throw line and secured three rebounds.

Junior guard Heather Claytor, who starts for the Heels, said the variety takes pressure off Larkins, Pringle and McCants and gives a fast-breaking team a break. She said depth should bode well for the team as it proceeds into the NCAA Tournament.

"If one person is having an off day, we're sure that another person is going to step up," Claytor said. "You just have to wait your turn."